The Islanders’ schedule for the 2026-27 NHL season is officially out.
New York opens the season on the road against the Leafs in a matchup of the top pick in the draft the past two years, Matthew Schaefer and Gavin McKenna, on Sept. 30.
They host the Devils in their home opener on Oct. 3 and then face on the Rangers at MSG in their first two rival meetings just three games into the season.
Four of the Isles last five games of the regular season are at UBS Arena, giving them home ice advantage down the stretch in a potential playoff push.
Their last two games are against divisional opponents -- Devils and Blue Jackets.
Other key notes from the Islanders’ schedule:
New York sees the defending champion Hurricanes for the first time on Dec. 11
Head coach Peter DeBoer’s former team, the Stars, visit UBS on Jan. 15
The Mammoth come to town for Anders Lee’s first game back on Feb. 15
Noah Dobson, injured when the Canadiens visited last year, returns on March 9
The Islanders will play four weekday afternoon games this year
The start of the regular season is still over two months away, until we officially kick off the 2026-27 season. However, the full schedule for the Los Angeles Kings has been revealed, and we now know who LA will face on the first day of the campaign.
Their season opener will be against a familiar opponent, the Colorado Avalanche, a team they met in last year's first-round playoff series, which they lost 4-0.
Not only that, but LA also hosted the Avs for last season's opener and came up short, losing 4-1 at home. This time, the Kings will have a chance to redeem themselves on the road.
Los Angeles will travel on the road for its first two games of the season, beginning with their opener against the Avs on Sept. 29 at 7:00 PM PT and Oct. 3 against the San Jose Sharks at 7:00 PM PT.
The Kings won't host their home opener until a week after their season opener, which will be on October 6 at 7:30 PM PT against the Florida Panthers.
A little history as well: this will be the first time since 2007-08 that the NHL regular season will kick off in September because of the 84-game format schedule making a comeback for this season, which hasn't happened since 1993-94.
In their last five openers, the Kings have a 2-3-0 record, with two losses to the Avalanche and one to their divisional rival, the Vegas Golden Knights.
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 18: José Alvarado #46 of the Philadelphia Phillies walks behind the pitching mound in the seventh inning during the game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on June 18, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Mets won 6-4. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Listen, I know many of you reading this read the title and think you already know the answer.
“No!” is the most likely refrain were I to post somewhere else, looking to spark discussion or creating some kind of snap poll that looked for a majority vote. Based on his performance this year where it matters, I’m not sure that I would blame you. A 6.82 ERA thanks to his allowing 26 runs in 33 innings are not numbers one wants to see from one of it’s supposed high leverage relievers.
Yet I am here to tell you, dear reader…..Jose Alvarado has indeed stunk up the ballpark in 2026. He’s allowing a ton of runs, walking too many hitters and falling behind in too many counts as to make at bats uncompetitive for him before they’ve really even begun. There really is no way to dance around these facts. It leads to the question of, can he and his season be salvaged to let him be something important down the line in the season?
There was a question that was asked of Justin Verlander this All-Star weekend where his answer really interested me.
Justin Verlander on the biggest change in pitching since 2005:
Analytics changed everything.
Some of it's great.
But JV says the danger now is analysts deciding whether a pitch is good based on the data, instead of how hitters actually react to it in games. pic.twitter.com/LMfQW87acX
What Verlander is saying is something we should be thinking more about as the game moves forward. Stuff models are very useful in the modern game as they are the ways pitchers learn new pitches, refine what they have already, basically all the ways they can get better at their craft. His point about hitters being able to tell a pitcher information about his pitches is getting a little lose along the way makes sense and is further broadening the divide between baseball purists and “the nerds”.
Alvarado is a great case here as his under the hood stuff, according to Baseball Savant, his season hasn’t been too bad. Take a quick peek at it and there is a lot of red going on, a good thing for a pitcher to have as it means a lot of what we are looking for in pitcher effectiveness is in the top percentiles.
He’s doing a lot of things the team wants him to do well, he’s just not seeing the results in the counting stats we see on a scoreboard. Looking at if from a subjective point of view, it’s something that everyone can see plain as day, that he is giving up a ton of runs in a few innings. Whatever trust there was to bring him into high leverage situations seems to be evaporating quickly. Which begs the question: why does the team continue to put him into high leverage situations? Is his stuff that good that he continues to warrant looks in those situations?
It really does depend on what you think of how people evaluate “stuff”. Fangraphs takes Stuff+ for each pitcher and ranks them for each pitch they throw. If we narrow the leaderboards to 20 innings pitched to make sure that Alvarado is included, he has some of the best pitches in the game:
sinker: 120 Stuff+ (t-15th among 339 pitchers that have thrown the pitch)
curveball: 147 Stuff+ (2nd among 208 pitchers that have thrown the pitch)
cutter: 115 Stuff+ (6th among 203 pitchers that have thrown the pitch)
From this model, Alvarado has some of the best stuff in the majors as a reliever and is a great choice to be brought into a game when it is tight. Yet, how can he be so bad when his stuff is this good? This is where the hitters telling a pitcher if his pitch is any good comes into play. Hitters this season have a .481 slugging percentage against his sinker and a . 444 slugging against the cutter. They are simply hammering the good stuff he is pitching with. This is backed up by his Location+ number, especially for the sinker.
sinker: 93 Location+ (t-244th among 339 pitchers that have thrown the pitch)
curveball: 66 Location+ (200th among 208 pitchers that have thrown the pitch)
cutter: 101 Location+ (108th among 203 pitchers that have thrown the pitch)
The location he has with his pitches is simply horrendous, which leads to hitters being able to hit the ball better, which leads to worse results no matter how good your stuff is according to the pitch models. Until Alvarado can start to locate his stuff better, he’s going to continue getting hit hard. So there’s no hope in his being able to turn it around, right?
Not necessarily.
There is also the argument for Alvarado being unlucky, an argument that can be made by looking at his BABIP. That number right now is an unsightly .440, twenty-three points higher than the next closest pitcher according to Fangraphs. When I first looked at that, it seemed abnormally high, even for a team with the defense the Phillies currently has. If you wanted to know if that was unprecedented or not, using Stathead, I looked up how many pitchers have had a BABIP of .425 or higher and thrown at least thirty innings as a reliever only in a season over the past forty years.
There are four.
And Alvarado has the highest BABIP of them quartet.
It doesn’t help that he has that pretty terrible defense behind him, which has to be taken into account a bit when considering that number, but there is an amount of unlucky-ness that occurring when he is on the mound that is leading to the results he has. You can see it in the quality of contact he has running with.
Listen, Alvarado has not been very good this season. Using “bad” might be a little strong in arguing about it, but I wouldn’t argue too much were you to go that route. However, I’d also ask that we pause before writing him totally off for the season. Alvarado is working with some good stuff as we can see based on different pitch models. That’s a great foundation from which to be a reliever. Where he’s throwing it needs work, an issue that has dogged Alvarado his whole career. If he’s able to reign in the command even a bit the rest of the way, there is the chance that either he starts getting a little luckier with balls put in play, or he’s able to strike hitters out a little more often and not have to involve his defense as much.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - MAY 20: Tampa Bay Rays mascot DJ Kitty poses for a photo prior to a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field on May 20, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to the second half. The Red Sox are 46-48 after a nine-game winning streak to close out the first part of the season. Now the team races towards the trade deadline with eyes on being buyers rather than sellers.
Willson Contreras doesn’t’ want to leave.
So it’ll be up to him, Sonny Gray, Aroldis Chapman and the rest of the team to really force Craig Breslow’s hand. This was, after all, the original plan entering the season. To compete. To win. To reach October.
After running wild in April and May, the Rays fell back to earth with a .500 June – including a 3-game sweep of the Sox – but are 7-5 so far in July.
Griffin Jax started one of those games in June and went 4.0 innings while allowing 3 runs (2 earned). That was his season high at the time but he’s since made nine starts of at least 5.0 innings including one 6.0 inning appearance. He’s not going deep in terms of pitch counts. just innings. Over 6.0 he just 71 pitches. In recent 5.0 inning starts he’s used as many at 88 but as few as 69. They’re clearly working him along in s specific way. Jake Bennett is coming off an excellent start against the Chicago White Sox. 7.0 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk? Can’t ask for more.
Game two doesn’t have announced starters yet, which leans towards the Sox pushing Payton Tolle into the next series to give him some extra rest. Eduardo Rivera and Brayan Bello are both available though…that just worked well against the Mets. Not that the Rays up the LOLMets.
The Ian Seymour experiment hasn’t gone as well as Jax. He was a pure reliever, then did some opening, and now has made three straight starts. The last was against the Seattle Mariners where he allowed 6 wins in 3.1 innings. His start against Boston was 4.0 innings and he allowed a single run: a homer by Marcelo Mayer. Patrick Sandoval is making his second start for the Red Sox. His first in two years was solid enough: 4.1 innings, 1 run, 5 Ks. With Ranger Suarez on the IL a few more days at least, Sandoval arrived at the right time.
Shane McClanahan is also back from a long absence for 2026. But he’s 17 starts into his return. The Sox missed him the last time. He held the Yankees scoreless over 6.1 last time out. And didn’t allow a run to KC the previous start. Sonny Gray is coming off a restful All-Star Break as he didn’t get selected for the game itself. He’s taking all comers ans shutting down their offenses. He’s been every bit the number two Breslow promised.
Junior Caminero was hit in the hand during the All-Star Game and could be out? He’s having a terrific year: 28 homers so far.
Chandler Simpson has 22 steals and has been caught 11 times, which leads the league.
Jonathan Aranda is posting a .394 OBP.
Yandy Diaz leads baseball with 11 hits.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, July 17: Griffin Jax (2.61 ERA / 4.42 FIP) vs. Jake Bennett (2.64 ERA /3.02 FIP)
Friday, July 17: TBD (—ERA / — FIP) vs. TBD (— ERA /— FIP)
Saturday, July 18: Ian Seymour (4.59 ERA / 4.09 FIP) vs. Patrick Sandoval (2.08 ERA / 1.49 FIP)
Sunday, July 19: Shane McClanahan (2.83 ERA / 3.15 FIP) vs. Sonny Gray (2.54 ERA / 3.53 FIP)
The Colorado Avalanche's Stanley Cup window isn't closing tomorrow.
But make no mistake—it isn't getting any wider.
This season may represent Colorado's best opportunity to win another championship with its current core. The problem? The Avalanche have run out of easy answers. Their trade assets are limited, their prospect pipeline has been depleted by years of win-now moves, and another blockbuster deadline acquisition could come at the expense of the very players they're counting on to extend their championship window.
At some point, every contender reaches a crossroads.
The Avalanche may have arrived there.
Colorado's roster, as it's currently constructed, might be as good as it's going to get.
If Chris MacFarland wants to make another splash at the trade deadline, he'll have to get creative. The Avalanche simply don't have the collection of draft picks and top prospects they once did. To land a meaningful piece, the conversation likely starts with players such as Fedor Svechkov or Zach L'Heureux.
That creates a problem.
Why spend the offseason getting younger, tougher, and more difficult to play against if you're just going to ship those players out a few months later? At that point, what was the point of making those trades in the first place?
The Avalanche didn't bring in Svechkov and L'Heureux just to flip them for another rental. They brought them in because this team needed a different identity.
For years, Colorado has leaned almost exclusively on skill. It worked well enough to win a Stanley Cup, but recent playoff exits have exposed a different issue. When the game slows down, the ice shrinks, and every inch has to be earned, the Avalanche haven't always had enough players willing to make life miserable for the opposition.
L'Heureux changes that.
He's never been projected as a top-line scorer, and that's okay. His value comes from making opponents uncomfortable. He finishes checks, gets under people's skin, and has no problem being the player everyone on the other bench loves to hate.
The Avalanche desperately needed someone like that.
Svechkov is just as important, albeit in a different way.
Colorado's track record of developing young players over the past several years hasn't exactly inspired confidence. Too often, prospects have either been traded before they had a real chance or struggled to carve out meaningful roles once they arrived.
This time, the Avalanche don't really have a choice.
Svechkov has an opportunity to become the fourth-line center this team has been searching for. There will almost certainly be growing pains, but that's part of the process. If Colorado wants inexpensive, reliable depth, it has to stop expecting it to magically appear from somewhere else.
The irony is that last season's success probably hid some of the team's biggest flaws.
The Avalanche led the NHL in goals scored. They allowed the fewest goals in the league. They finished with the best regular-season record in franchise history.
Those accomplishments were remarkable.
They also made it easy to overlook the lack of bite in the bottom six and how little secondary depth the team truly had once the playoffs became a war of attrition.
That depth looks even thinner now.
Jack Drury is gone. Ross Colton is gone. Valeri Nichushkin was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Suddenly, Colorado is asking a lot from players who have yet to establish themselves at the NHL level.
Can Svechkov handle an everyday role? Can L'Heureux become the type of energy player every contender seems to have? Can Jaden Schwartz stay healthy long enough to provide the secondary scoring this lineup will need?
Those aren't minor questions.
They could determine whether the Avalanche are playing into June or watching someone else compete for the Stanley Cup.
That's also why Colorado has to resist the urge to chase another rental if things aren't perfect by February.
Every season, contenders convince themselves they're one player away. Sometimes they're right.
More often, they pay a premium for a player who leaves a few months later, while the young talent they gave up develops somewhere else.
The Avalanche have lived that reality before.
At some point, the organization has to trust what it's building instead of constantly looking for the next shortcut.
Nathan MacKinnon once said, "I really don't think you can win the Stanley Cup with young players."
History says otherwise.
Every year, young players become Stanley Cup champions. The difference isn't their age. It's whether they're ready, whether they fit, and whether their coaches are willing to trust them when the games matter most.
That's where the Avalanche are now.
Not at the end of their Stanley Cup window.
But perhaps at the beginning of its most important chapter.
BOSTON - SEPTEMBER 29: Adam Lind #26 of the Toronto Blue Jays rounds first base after his solo home run in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox on September 29, 2009 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. It was Lind's third home run of the game. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Adam Lind turns 43 today.
Adam Lind was on our prospect list when I first joined BBB. I remember the debate about whether he’d become a “40 home run” player. That didn’t happen, but very few players ever reach that mark.
Lind made his MLB debut as a September call-up in 2006 and performed admirably. Still, he didn’t secure a roster spot out of spring training in 2007. He was recalled in April to cover left field after Reed Johnson was injured, but when Johnson returned, Lind was sent back to the minors—his .230/.274/.383 line didn’t help his case. He received another call-up that September.
In 2008, Lind again began the season in the minors but was called up when the team abruptly parted ways with Frank Thomas. He struggled initially, starting 1-for-19, and an impatient John Gibbons—understandably concerned about his job—sent Lind back to the minors. The Jays then turned to the infamous Mencherson platoon (Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench), which, with Lind available, seemed like managerial malpractice.
After Gibbons was fired and Cito Gaston was hired, Gaston’s first and best move was insisting Lind be recalled. Cito made Adam his project, putting him in left field and letting him play regularly. Lind was often seen sitting beside the manager on the bench.
With Cito’s guidance, Lind had his best MLB season in 2009, playing 151 games and hitting .305/.370/.562 with 35 home runs and 114 RBI. Unfortunately, that success created unrealistic expectations, and the following seasons made it clear he wouldn’t become the perennial All-Star fans had hoped for.
2010 was a disappointment; Lind hit just .237/.287/.425, and for the next few years, he seemed like a lost cause.
In 2013, when John Gibbons returned as manager, he recognized—as many fans had—that Lind needed to be platooned. This decision restored Lind’s value to the team.
I’ve always liked Lind. He spoke his mind in interviews, never settling for the usual clichés. When he visited Calgary for a promotional tour, he genuinely enjoyed playing with kids at team events—a quality I truly admire.
Happy birthday, Adam.
Steve Delabar turns 43 today.
The Blue Jays acquired Delabar from the Mariners for Eric Thames at the end of July 2012. Since then, Thames has taken an interesting path—playing three years in Korea, signing with the Brewers, spending 2020 with the Nationals, and appearing briefly in the A’s system in 2022, though he hasn’t returned to the majors.
Delabar’s journey is unique. Drafted by the Angels in 2003, he spent several years in the Padres system before being released in 2008. He played independent ball in 2009 until a fractured elbow derailed his career.
After stepping away from playing, Steve became a high school baseball coach. It was there that he discovered the ‘weighted ball’ program, which briefly became a sensation. The program rejuvenated his arm strength, leading to a minor league deal with the Mariners and, ultimately, his major league debut in 2011. He featured a mid-90s fastball, a slider, and a split-finger fastball.
With the Jays, Delabar emerged as the team’s top setup man and earned an AL All-Star selection in 2014. After that, however, his command faltered, and he bounced between Toronto and Buffalo for a couple of seasons before being released in spring training 2016.
Over four seasons with Toronto, he appeared in 143 games, posted a 3.97 ERA, and struck out 179 batters in 143 innings.
He even recorded an immaculate inning in Oakland on July 30, 2013—a game I attended.
Delabar pitched for the Reds in 2016, spending most of the year in Triple-A but logging eight major league innings. In 2018, he was in the Rangers’ system.
In 2017, Delabar tested positive for PEDs and received an 80-game suspension from MLB.
He retired from pitching in 2018 and returned to coaching.
The Rangers’ full schedule for the 2026-27 NHL season is officially out.
New York will once again be featured in one of the league’s Opening Night games, kicking things off on the road against the Boston Bruins on Sept. 29.
They’ll return to MSG two nights later for their home opener against the Lightning.
Mike Sullivan’s squad will then play their first of 11 back-to-back’s on the season, immediately heading back out on the road to face the Red Wings in their home opener.
That concludes a grueling early-season stretch of three games in four days.
The Blueshirts will wrap up the regular season with three consecutive home games this year -- hosting the Panthers, Penguins, and Maple Leafs down the stretch in early-March.
Other schedule highlights include:
Vincent Trocheck’s return to the Garden on Oct. 4
Artemi Panarin’s second game back at MSG on Oct. 26
Defending champion Hurricanes come to town on Nov. 22, Nov. 30
That second matchup is part of a five-game homestand, the longest of the season
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JUNE 7: Manager Matt Quatraro #33 of the Kansas City Royals walks to the dugout after making a pitching change against the Minnesota Twins during the eighth inning of the game at Target Field on June 7, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Following back-to-back winning seasons, the Royals had designs on contending this year. Much of the season hinged on the development of young hitters Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone, and those two seem to be coming around as key parts of the lineup. Bobby Witt Jr. continues to play at an MVP level, and Michael Wacha was an All-Star. With those developments, you would think the Royals would be right in the mix.
Instead, it has been a disaster of a season. The Royals enter the second half tied for the worst record in baseball. Injuries have taken their toll this summer, but the losing began well before the roster was decimated. The organization’s lack of depth has been exposed, and the team will have a lot of work to do before next spring to get back on track.
Failing students have to show their report cards to their parents, so let’s hand out Royals first-half report cards for fans to see.
Position players
The offense has actually improved from last year, with the team averaging 4.23 runs per game, a 5 percent increase over 2025. The development of young hitters like Caglianone and Jensen has fueled the improvement, although the team still ranks 21st in baseball in runs scored. The team lost the disappointing Jonathan India to injury early on, but the struggles of Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino have had the biggest impact.
Bobby Witt Jr. – A+
Bobby is on track to test whether a player on a last place team can win MVP. He leads the league in fWAR (4.8) and steals (30), ranks fourth in hits (103), third in doubles (22), and leads all of baseball defensively in Outs Above Average (+18). He has increased his walk rate and cut down on his strikeout rate. He is everything you want in a ballplayer, and the Royals are absolutely wasting one of his prime seasons.
Jac Caglianone – B+
A hot June propelled Cags into the Home Run Derby and gave Royals fans some hope for the future. He has cut down on his groundball rate, and his Baseball Savant page is covered in red, particularly in hard-hit rate and exit velocity. He still chases a bit, and his defense is a work in progress (although better than I think some expected), but Jac is starting to look like the 30+ home run threat the Royals saw when they drafted him.
Isaac Collins – B+
Collins was brought in to get on base, and he is second behind only Witt on the team in on-base percentage at .345. He’s been a bit rough defensively in left field, but he has pretty much done what the Royals asked him to do, although he may be a bit stretched too thin in such a prominent role.
Maikel Garcia – B
His numbers are down from last year’s breakout performance, and his baserunning leaves something to be desired at times. But his OPS is still around league average and his defense has been outstanding at third. You’d like his numbers to be better after he signed a long-term deal last offseason, but his numbers have been pretty good this year.
Kyle Isbel – B
Isbel’s offensive numbers are substantially similar to his stats the last two seasons. He is what he is – a terrific defender with little power who should hit ninth in your lineup. He’s out the last month with plantar fasciitis, something that could hamper him the rest of the season.
Carter Jensen – B
Jensen was a bit of a dark horse Rookie of the Year pick before the year, and while he hasn’t lived up to that, he has been solid enough to consider him a fixture for the next few years. The power has been as-advertised, and he shows a patient approach the plate. His immaturity showed earlier this year when he overslept for a game, and his defense has been a mixed bag, but Jensen has put together a solid rookie performance.
Nick Loftin – B
The former first-round pick may be escaping his status as a AAA player by posting strong walk and strikeout rates at the big league level and becoming an offensive asset. His defense at third has been brutal, but perhaps he could improve with more playing time at second.
Michael Massey – B
Massey struggled last year, but has rebounded this year to put up very similar numbers to what he did in 2024. He’s got some pop for a second baseman and plays good defense, but struggles to get on base at a consistent clip. His salary will go up under arbitration next year, so this is a big year for him to prove he is worth keeping.
Lane Thomas – B-
Thomas was a bit of a whipping boy for Royals fans to begin the year, but overall his numbers are…fine? His power is down a bit, but he’s on pace to post his best on-base percentage since 2021, and he’s been most effective against left-handers. He has stayed healthy and has done what was expected of him, the question is whether the Royals needed more from an acquisition.
Tyler Tolbert – B–
What a weird season for Tolbert. He was hitting .200/.275/.200 through 41 plate appearances, then went 12-for-13 with two home runs over three games, and suddenly he has the highest OPS on the team. He’s a speedy bench player, but with this being a lost season, perhaps the Royals should explore whether he’s worth having an expanded role.
Starling Marte – C
Marte seems like a good clubhouse guy, and you could do worse with your bench options, but it is clear the 37-year-old veteran is at the end of the line.
Vinnie Pasquantino – D
Vinnie hit a career-high 32 home runs last year, and with the fences moving in this year, there were thoughts of a huge power season. He has hit two home runs at the K this year. He battled lower back tightness, then missed nearly a month with a hamate bone injury. His saving grace is that his walk rate has spiked to a career-high 11 percent, but otherwise he has been a dud at the plate.
Salvador Perez – F
Salvy has held off Father Time for years, but age seems to have caught up with him this season. Nearly every Baseball Savant metric is trending in the wrong direction. He ranks as the second-worst qualified hitter in baseball with a 58 wRC+, and his -1.5 fWAR is the lowest among all position players. He’s hitting better in July, but he’ll need a strong second half to avoid entering the final year of his contract in 2027 as an albatross.
Pitchers
Pitching was expected to be the strength of this club entering the season, but it has largely been a disaster. The Royals have allowed the fourth-most runs per game in baseball. They have surrendered double-digit runs in ten games, including a 22-1 beatdown at the hands of the White Sox. They entered the season with a lot of supposed pitching depth, but injuries to Carlos Estévez, Kris Bubic, and Cole Ragans have exposed them.
Michael Wacha – A
Wacha may be one of the best free agent signings in Royals history. He has been a workhorse, leading the league in innings pitched, and he gives the Royals a chance to win each time out with 12 Quality Starts. He has some of the worst run support in baseball, which is the only reason why he has a losing record.
Daniel Lynch IV – A-
Lynch has been used in more high-leverage roles this year and has met the challenge, improving his strikeout and walk rates. He has become the most trusted arm in the bullpen.
Stephen Kolek – B
Kolek was a model of consistency until one awful nine-run start against the Cardinals. He throws strikes and gets ground balls and is a perfectly acceptable back-of-the-rotation starter.
John Schreiber – B
Schreiber has been getting outs despite a drop in strikeout rate, but a 4.94 FIP suggests a second-half regression. The Royals should probably be aggressive looking to move him at the deadline for anyone that needs bullpen help.
Kris Bubic – B–
Bubic was looking pretty solid until he gave up five runs in his last start, then hit the Injured List with a shoulder injury. He suffered a setback in his rehab and it is looking increasingly unlikely he will be healthy enough to be moved at the trade deadline.
Noah Cameron – B-
It has been a bit of an up-and-down season for Cameron. The knock on Cameron last year was that he didn’t miss enough bats. He has significantly improved his strikeout numbers this year, and while his 4.89 ERA ain’t great, his 4.03 FIP will play.
Seth Lugo – C+
Lugo hit a wall last year that resulted in a terrible second half and he may be hitting a similar wall this year. He had a 3.69 ERA through his first 15 starts, but has given up 21 runs in 19.1 innings over his last four outings.
Beck Way – C+
Way was called up out of desperation and has been fine, although it has come in low-leverage situations and his FIP is 5.39.
Luinder Avila – C
I like Avila’s stuff and I think he has a bright future, most likely in the bullpen. The Royals were not counting on him being fourth on the team in innings pitched, but here we are. He needs to throw more strikes to have success in the big leagues, but he has shown some glimpses of promise.
Alex Lange – C
Lange was looking like a decent reclamation project until he gave up ten runs over his last four appearances. His walk rate is still awfully high, and he has struggled to strike hitters out the last few weeks.
Mason Black – C-
Before the season, Black was put in a “break glass in case of emergency” box, and it turns out the Royals have needed him 12 times. He has done fine pitching mostly in losses, but he probably shouldn’t be someone the Royals count on in the second half.
Nick Mears – C-
Mears seemed like a shrewd pickup for the bullpen when the Royals got him from Milwaukee, but he struggled with walks and has been out over a month with a shoulder injury.
Steven Cruz – C-
Cruz is a hard thrower who has trouble throwing strikes at times. His cutter has been a lot better than his straight fastball, and I still feel like he could be a really good reliever with some tweaks.
Eli Morgan – C-
The very definition of “replacement level player.”
Lucas Erceg – D
Erceg’s drop in strikeout rate was a red flag last year, and the chickens have come home to roost this season. He has the third-worst strikeout-to-walk rate among relievers. The Royals really needed him to step up after the injury to Estévez but his six blown saves are the most in baseball.
Cole Ragans – D
It has been a frustrating two seasons for Ragans, who was an All-Star in 2024. He made eight starts, showed some flashes of brilliance with high whiff rates, but went down in early May with an elbow injury that required surgery. We probably won’t see him again until mid-2027.
Matt Strahm – F
Strahm was one of the best relievers in baseball last year, and it seemed like a coup when the Royals acquired him last winter. Instead he has been a disaster for the Royals with the second-worst home run rate in baseball. Worse yet, Jonathan Bowlan, who the Royals traded away to acquire Strahm, has been very good for the Phillies.
If you ask the average Senators fan what's still missing on their roster, the most common reply you'll hear is the need for another top-six forward.
In fact, most fans felt that way at the start of the summer, before Brady Tkachuk was traded.
Shane Pinto is asked about the exits of Brady Tkachuk and Daniel Alfredsson (Senators YouTube)
Tkachuk's spot in the top six was ultimately refilled by the acquisition of William Eklund from the San Jose Sharks. Eklund is a very nice player, but to be brutally honest, he's a downgrade on Tkachuk in every way, including offence.
Over the past five years, Tkachuk has averaged 73 points per season, while Eklund has averaged 56.
As a result, any season-end desire for another elite player in the top six has only increased.
For now, it would appear that newcomer Andre Burakovsky will get the first shot at bolstering the top six. At this point, it's not clear yet if Burakovsky will be an upgrade on some of the Senators' bottom six options, let alone the top six. The Senators are praying they get the player he was in the first half of last season, not the last half.
In truth, it may be overly ambitious to expect either player to show major improvements in Ottawa because they won't have the likes of Macklin Celebrini or Connor Bedard so frequently at their sides.
So it's not unreasonable to suggest that, on paper, the Sens' top six group could use a boost. Of course, finding that boost is far easier said than done.
Good teams tend to hang on to those types of players. If they are willing, they'll want you to sacrifice something from your existing roster.
Poor teams will want top picks and prospects, but with the draft behind us, the pressure is off. Their best returns may come by waiting until the trade deadline, when teams feel the pressure of being a legit contender.
And what about free agency? Sure, it would have been nice for Steve Staios to go shopping on July 1 to find an obvious upgrade, but at that point, you were dealing with players who had, or believed they had, a lot of options. Unless you're from here, Ottawa is rarely at the top of free agent destination lists.
Today, as NHL free agency enters its third week, it will soon be time for lowered expectations, and remaining UFAs will expand their list of potential destinations while lowering their contract demands.
As of Wednesday, the five most intriguing UFA forwards were:
- Patrick Kane - Anthony Mantha - Vladimir Tarasenko - Michael Bunting - Patrik Laine
Are there any clear solutions there?
Mantha came off the board on Wednesday, signing a two-year contract worth $9.5 million ($4.75 million in average annual value) with the New Jersey Devils. At that price, some fans wondered whether the Sens had missed the boat on a 33-goal scorer last season. But always beware of the veteran player who has a career year in a contract year.
It was around this time in 2023 that the Senators signed Tarasenko. He's a UFA again and still available, but he wouldn't be a clear upgrade at this point, so why take on the cap hit?
According to Chris Chelios, who spoke with the player, Patrick Kane is down to two teams: Buffalo and Chicago, his hometown and his longtime NHL home.
Michael Bunting is intriguing because he could help deliver some of the edge that was lost when Tkachuk left and he has been productive in the recent past.
2021-22 TOR 63 pts 2022-23 TOR 49 pts 2023-24 CAR/PIT 55 pts 2024-25 PIT/NAS 38 pts 2025-25 NAS/DAL 33 pts
But those point totals have drifted noticeably in the last couple of seasons, and while I think he'd look good in a third-line role, the last thing the Sens need is more forwards who'd look good in a third-line role. He's also about to bounce to his sixth team in three years.
Laine is a one-dimensional player, but it's the very best dimension: goal scoring. Despite his injuries, he's probably still looking for a standard big-money contract. But if he ever gets to a stage where he'll accept a lower salary drenched with goal-scoring bonuses, he's someone you might consider. Maybe.
Right now, it looks like Steve Staios wants to see if the areas for improvement can come from within.
"We have a lot of new faces coming in, but they're good players," Shane Pinto told Sportsnet as he prepared for a golf tournament this week. "Another year in the NHL, we have more experience, and hopefully we can take another step and make the playoffs and continue to go further and further."
With so many key players at 25 and under, taking another step is more than possible. It's to be expected.
That includes Pinto (25), Jake Sanderson (24), Tim Stutzle (24), Dylan Cozens (25), William Eklund (23), Ridly Greig (23), Stephen Halliday (24), Jordan Spence (25), Tyler Kleven (24), and (maybe) Carter Yakemchuk (20).
Is it really so far-fetched to think that if Pinto or Greig, for example, moved up and became everyday top-six players, they might be capable of that next step and produce those standard top-six offensive numbers?
The locker room will also be quite different with the exit of a huge personality in Brady Tkachuk. Sometimes, when a star player leaves, other players find a new level while also providing fresh new leadership that can energize a group, not unlike the new coach bump.
That's why patience may be the right play right now.
The Senators have enough talent to prove they're ready to contend, and if they are, they'll have opportunities to add a top-six forward once the NHL's sellers are identified in the back half of the season.
Until then, the biggest improvements will have to come from the players already wearing the centurion crest. And if they improve enough, maybe they won't need to add at all.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News
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PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 11: Commissioner of Major League Baseball Robert D. Manfred announces Gio Rojas as the 16th overall pick by the Texas Rangers during the 2026 MLB Draft presented by Nippon Express at Pennsylvania Convention Center on Saturday, July 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The 2026 MLB Draft is over. The Texas Rangers have made their selections and started signing players. Deals for their top few picks should be announced in the next few days, with the deadline for signing most drafted players being ten days from now, at 4 p.m. on Monday, July 27, 2026.
Its a far cry from the days of old, when first round picks didn’t sign until weeks — sometimes months — after they were drafted, when there were staring matches, games of chickens, where the deadline was when classes started for the school a drafting player would be attending in the fall if he didn’t sign (assuming that the player in question opted to set foot on campus, rather than not going to school and continuing negotiations into the fall and winter). The assumption is that, barring something extraordinary, a team is going to sign the players it picks in the first ten rounds, with the only real question being which players in rounds 11-20 will be inked to deals before the window for negotiations close.
The Rangers’ 2026 draft class is an unusual one, noted by many of the commentariat as being a boom-or-bust type draft, being top heavy, with their first three picks — who will likely consume the vast majority of the team’s draft bonus pool — being of the high-risk, high-reward variety. After years of swinging for the fences in the draft, the Rangers, in 2019, began orienting more towards lower-risk, safer college picks, with a particular focus on landing batters with a track record of success and good contact skills.
In 2025, the Rangers went in a somewhat different direction in the draft, using their first round pick on prep infielder Gavin Fien — the first high schooler they had picked in the first round since Cole Winn in 2018 — and splitting their first six picks, and the bulk of their draft pool, between three prep infielders* and three injured college pitchers. They didn’t take a college hitter until the seventh round, when they popped Penn State outfielder Paxton Kling — and Kling fit more in the toolsy, athletic category than the polished, advanced skills category.
* Or, if you prefer, two prep infielders and Josh Owens, a prep infielder who also pitches, and who was announced, and being used this season, as a two way player.
This past weekend, the Rangers seemingly came full circle, using their first three selections on high school players for the first time since 2018, including high-velocity lefty pitchers with two of their first three picks. As the industry as a whole has shifted more and more towards college players — nine of the first 11 picks in 2026 were from four year schools — and with a particular focus on college hitters with strong contact ability, the Rangers have put their eggs in a three player basket of guys who were attending high school two months ago.
I don’t know, though, if this is inherently a philosophical shift so much as the team seeing opportunities in regards to players that were on the board when they picked that didn’t necessarily fit their usual mode. The reports heading into draft day had the Rangers’ connected with a number of players prior to the draft, with various mock drafts having the Rangers going both position player and pitcher, both prep and college, with their top pick.
Gio Rojas, taken by the Rangers at #16, was the first high school pitcher selected in the draft, and one of only two high school pitchers taken in the “true” first round, versus the competitive balance pick round after the first round. He’s someone who was seen at one point as likely being off the board before the Rangers picked, a tall, athletic lefty who touches 98 and is expected to be able to hit triple digits when he fills out, a high spin guy who also has a quality slider and feel for a changeup. That profile even a few years ago would have him a lock to go in the top 10.
The flameout rate for high school pitchers has resulted in them dropping on draft boards in recent years, and with good reason. One can go back and look at the failure rate for high school pitchers taken high in the draft and see how often they don’t make it.
But while you are going to adjust where you put high school pitchers on your draft board as a result of that, you aren’t going to remove them from your board altogether. You aren’t going to want to take a high school pitcher first overall, sure…and a high school pitcher hasn’t gone first since Brady Aiken infamously was picked #1 in 2014 by the Houston Astros, who then didn’t sign him due to medical concerns. The only other high school pitchers taken first overall in the history of the draft are Brien Taylor, who went first overall in 1991 to the Yankees and never made the majors, and David Clyde, whose story you are all familiar with.
At some point, though, you’re going to reach a point in the draft where the risk of a high school pitcher is outweighed by the potential value that a particular high school pitcher offers at that point. For the Texas Rangers, this year, that point was the 16th pick the draft, with Gio Rojas.
Rojas, though, wasn’t necessarily the only prep pitcher the Rangers viewed as worthy of snagging with the 16th overall pick. They also were linked with Brody Bumila, a huge lefty out of Massachusetts who throws 100 with great extension, but who has a lot of work to do with his secondaries. The notion of taking Bumila at #16 went out the window when the pre-draft medicals showed that Bumila — who underwent internal brace surgery on his elbow 14 months ago — had a damaged UCL, likely necessitating another surgery.
The injury knocked Bumila out of the first round, and saw him drop all the way to the third round…where the Rangers grabbed him, reportedly with an agreement to pay him first round money. Going way over slot to get a first round talent in the later rounds isn’t unusual. Doing it for a high schooler who may not be ready to step on a mound until the end of 2027 because of a second elbow surgery is, however. Its the organization betting, not just on Bumila’s upside, but on his, and the team’s medical staff, being able to get him back to full strength.
If Bumila does, he’s a steal in the third round. If he doesn’t, well, you’ll be hearing comparisons to Michael Matuella.
In between Rojas and Bumila, the Rangers went prep hitter with Connor Comeau. Like last year’s first rounder, Gavin Fien, Comeau is a high school shortstop with an advanced hit tool who will almost certainly have to move off of shortstop. Unlike Fien, Comeau is one of the youngest players in his draft class, not turning 18 until August, and is a tall, gangly fellow who lacks speed and athleticism, but whose swing, approach and build allows him to be projected as a potential impact hitter as he fills out.
None of the Rangers’ top three picks are cheap signs. Texas isn’t going underslot with them to sign guys who slid to the later rounds. The team said after the draft that Bumila unexpectedly reaching them in the third round scrambled their draft board, as signing him would necessitate them devoting most of their excess bonus pool money to him.
And so in the fourth round, took a junior reliever out of Ole Miss in Hudson Calhoun, who may be below slot, and almost certainly won’t be above slot. In the fifth, they took Michael Anderson out of Penn State, who has already signed for $172,500, significantly below slot. The team’s sixth, seventh, ninth and tenth rounders have all signed for nominal $2500 bonuses, providing savings that will go to Bumila. Their eighth rounder, Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch, is a senior, and a good enough prospect he will likely not sign for $2500, but who will not cost a lot to lock up.
We don’t know yet how much the guys taken in the top 10 rounds will cost to sign, how much pool money will be left over to apply to potential above-$150,000 bonuses for players taken after round 10. There are interesting players the Rangers picked in that range, guys who have the potential to be legitimate prospects as they develop. We will have a fuller picture of the entire draft class in ten days.
But the big bets were in the first three rounds, when the Rangers were opportunistic in grabbing high risk, high reward guys who fell in their laps.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 11: Steven Kwan #38 and Brayan Rocchio #4 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrate after defeating the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on July 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Guardians welcome one of the few teams they will see post-All-Star break who enter the schedule with a record better than .500 in the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates are 50-47 with a +44 run differential, second in team wRC+ at 111, second in baserunning runs above average at 6.3, 26th in Defense at -27.5, 11th in starting pitcher ERA at 4.20 (3.72 FIP),
The Guardians are 51-46 with a -2 run differential, 23rd in team wRC+ at 92, seventh in baserunning runs above average at 5.2, ninth in Defense at -2.6, seventh in starting pitcher ERA at 3.69 (4.04 FIP), and eighth in bullpen ERA at 3.74 (3.85 FIP).
The Pirates are good at everything… except defense. They are horrific at defense. So, please, Guardians, put the ball in play.
Matchups:
Game One, Friday 7:10PM ET, Gavin Williams, RHP 3.81 ERA (3.74 FIP) vs. Jared Jones, RHP 4.37 ERA (3.67 FIP)
Game Two, Saturday, 4:10PM ET, Joey Cantillo, LHP 3.56 ERA (4.08 FIP) vs. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP 3.49 ERA (3.32 FIP)
Game Three, Sunday, 1:40PM ET, Tanner Bibee, RHP 3.90 (4.82 FIP) vs. Paul Skenes, RHP 3.57 ERA (2.88 FIP)
The Pirates are led by Esmeryn Valdez 186 wRC+, Bryan Reynolds 143 wRC+, Endy Rodriguez 138 wRC+, Ryan O’Hearn 128 wRC+, Brandon Lowe 115 wRC+, Nick Gonzalez 113 wRC+, Tyler Callihan 110 wRC+, and Jake Mangum 109 wRC+. Spencer Horwitz, Oneil Cruz and Konnor Griffin are on the IL.
The Guardians are led by Chase DeLauter 123 wRC+, Austin Hedges 116 wRC+, Brayan Rocchio 113 wRC+, and Travis Bazzana 103 wRC+.
Let’s get the second half started off with a series win!
LeBron James gave the Knicks their flowers on Thursday and pinpointed the changes that helped them win the NBA Finals.
James said that last year, the Knicks ran a lot of Jalen Brunson-centric offense, but an adjustment by first-year coach Mike Brown changed everything.
“I think they diversified their offensive portfolio. It was a lot of Jalen Brunson picks and rolls last year, and it allowed the defense to kind of key in on him,” James began during a live recording of his “Mind the Game” podcast at Fanatics Fest.
“I think what Mike Brown brought in was the little pinch post to get the ball to Karl-Anthony Towns in the pinch post area, or at the top of the key, and let him be in the hub. And yes, at the end of the day, it would still get to Jalen Brunson, but it didn’t allow you to just sit on one action.”
LeBron James gave the Knicks their flowers on his podcast. Getty Images for Fanatics
That change came after the Knicks fell into a 2-1 hole in their opening-round series against the Hawks. The Knicks went on to win the final three against Atlanta, sweep the 76ers and Cavaliers to reach the NBA Finals before slaying the Spurs in five games to win the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
Brunson was surely the Knicks’ best player last season, leading the team through a long regular season in which they mostly stayed healthy, unlike in years past.
“We know the glue guys like [Jose] Alvarado, Josh Hart, and Mikail Bridges, but obviously the unsung hero of the whole finals run was OG Anunoby,” James said.
Anunoby had the NBA Finals-changing play when he tipped home the game-winner in the final seconds of Game 4 after the Knicks rallied from 29 points down.
The Knicks put together an incredible run to the NBA Finals, and James points out that they had the best point differential in NBA Playoff history, at 14.9 points per game.
LeBron: "Knicks…diversified…was lotta Brunson PnR…Mike Brown brought KAT pinch post…didn't allow you to sit on 1 action…Highest playoff point differential of all time >14.5pts insane…Glue guys Jose, Hart, Bridges but unsung hero whole Finals run OG" pic.twitter.com/QnCkrB2rmF
James is still trying to figure out which team he is going to play for during the upcoming season as he hopes to compete for a title in his age-42 season.
His agent, Rich Paul, had previously said that if the Knicks hadn’t won the title, James wouldn’t be looking at a board of teams to play for.
Mike Brown had different ideas for the Knicks’ offense. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
“He’d be going to the Knicks,” Paul said on his “Game Over” podcast earlier this month.
With the Knicks appearing uninterested in a James-Knicks union, the team has done a good job of bringing the band back together, having lost only backup center Mitchell Robinson to the rival Celtics thus far in free agency.
“Gentleman. American. Sportsman. Through whose vision and courage this imposing edifice, destined to become the home of champions, was erected and dedicated to the American game of baseball.”
So reads the second plaque erected at the old Yankee Stadium to recognize a figure of organizational significance. The plaque predates Monument Park itself, having been installed upon the center field bleacher fence in 1940, the year after the death of the man it honors.
While the ballpark was informally christened “The House that Ruth Built,” of course the Yankees’ ownership was directly responsible for its construction. The plaque in question honors Jacob Ruppert, the renaissance man who owned the Yankees for 24 years. He’s received the lion’s share of the credit for shepherding the Yankees’ franchise from afterthought to behemoth, with Yankee Stadium serving as the physical embodiment of this ascent.
But it was not Ruppert who oversaw construction at East 161st Street and River Avenue. It was his co-owner, a civil engineer by trade whose attention to detail led him to spend two weeks deciding on the perfect seats for the grandstand and whose legacy as one of the most pivotal figures in Yankees history has been largely papered over.
Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston Born: July 17, 1867 (Buffalo, NY) Died: March 29, 1938 (Darien, GA) Yankees Tenure: 1914-23 (co-owner)
Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio as a diehard Reds fan. He followed in the footsteps of his father, a civil engineer from Ireland, with the two working together on the Louisville and Nashville railroads. The younger Huston joined the Army during the Spanish American War, serving as a captain in the 16th Regiment of Engineers in Cuba. He stuck around for 15 years after hostilities ended, building his fortune developing infrastructure for the fledgling nation.
Despite his physical distance from his homeland, Huston remained connected to the game he loved as a child, getting American newspapers so he could follow box scores. “Neither tropic heat nor tropic rain could drive thoughts of the old game from my head,” he’d say years later of this period.
Upon his return, he hatched a plan to purchase the Chicago Cubs in 1914 and install his good friend John McGraw as manager. While McGraw was keen on the idea, he had to back out after being unable to withdraw from his contract with the Giants. A few months later, Huston linked up with Ruppert to purchase a moribund Yankees franchise. The two split the roughly $460,000 cost evenly, with Ruppert serving as team president and Huston as secretary and treasurer.
Turning the Yankees around would be no small task. The new co-owners employed a strategy familiar to more recent owners of the club: spend early and often. Ruppert and Huston reportedly told their staff to “go to the limit” in procuring talent, later relaying to manager Bill Donovan that “no sum of money would stand in the way” of whatever acquisitions he requested. Their resulting bounty, which included Hall of Famer Home Run Baker and Bob Shawkey, who’d win 168 games in 13 years in New York, served notice to the rest of the league and helped the Yankees start climbing up in the standings.
The crowning achievement of this talent influx came in December 1919. Fresh off their best finish since they were known as the Highlanders in 1910, the Yankees purchased Babe Ruth’s contract from the Red Sox. By 1921, they’d be playing in their first World Series.
Throughout this period, there was one snag in the Yankees’ rise. Since 1913, they had had played second fiddle at the Giants’ Polo Grounds in Manhattan. As the Yankees’ fortunes improved, they began to wear out their welcome. The Giants first attempted to evict them, then settled on vastly increasing their rent. Huston, leveraging his civil engineering background, led the search for a new site, surveying plots of land across Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. He and Ruppert settled on a 10-acre plot of land just across the Macombs Dam Bridge from the Polo Grounds in the Bronx.
Work began in 1922, with Huston a regular presence at the site. As construction drew to a close, he expressed his desire to sell his half of the club to Ruppert. “I’m old and tired,” he said of the decision. “The Yankees are a good team and the stadium is nearly finished. It looks as if my work is about done.” In reality, the move to sell was also sparked by years of tension between the two co-owners, chiefly over the hiring of eventual Hall of Famer Miller Huggins as manager.
Huston sold his stake in the team in May 1923, weeks after his beloved stadium first opened its doors. He left the team he helped purchase less than 10 years earlier with a new ballpark of its own and on the doorstep of its first of 27 world championships and counting. Huston moved to Georgia after his retirement from baseball before making one last attempt to buy back in. In the mid-1930s, he made an offer to purchase the Brooklyn Dodgers with a plan to install Ruth as manager, though his bid was not accepted.
Huston died of natural causes in Darien, GA at the age of 70. Unlike Ruppert, he has yet to receive enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame or much of a formal acknowledgement at the stadium he helped built. But through the conviviality, connections, expertise, and purse he brought to the New York Yankees, he deserves no less credit for the team’s historic turnaround.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired one-time top prospect Robert Hassell III from the Washington Nationals for cash or a player to be named later.
The 24-year-old outfielder has hit .215 with two homers and 21 RBIs for Triple-A Rochester this year. Hassell made his big league debut with the Nationals last season, batting .223 with three home runs and 18 RBIs in 70 games.
Hassell was a first-round draft choice in 2020 by the San Diego Padres. He was a top-40 prospect according to MLB Pipeline in 2022 and 2023, and he was part of the 2022 deal that sent Juan Soto to the Padres.
Other players who went from San Diego to Washington in that trade — James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore — have been productive, but Hassell has yet to establish himself in the big leagues.
